He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. -Matthew 13:37-38 (NKJV)
As the morning sun’s rays bathe me in their warmth and light, God recharges me and reminds me that I am blessed with more opportunities to thrive as the wheat that He planted in His field.
Every breath we take is a gift from God to speak His name through our words, and to be His love in our deeds…living with passion and reckless abandon.
But we are surrounded by impostors who can stifle and harm us in our mission.
Good seed and bad
The verse above is from Jesus’ explanation to the apostles of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), where a farmer sowed good grain seed in his field, followed by an enemy who came along and sowed tares (weeds) in the night. When the crop came up, the grain shot up, as did the tares. The man’s servants asked where the tares came from, and the man told them an enemy planted them. The servants offered to pull the tares, but the man cautioned against it, saying that at harvest time, his reapers would separate the wheat to store and the tares to burn.
Jesus explained that He was the farmer, true believers are the good grain seeds in the world (the field), but the tares were planted by Satan. The angels are the reapers at the end of this age, and they will, without error, separate the believers from the unbelievers. The unbelievers will burn for eternity, with much weeping and gnashing of teeth, while the believers will shine in God’s kingdom.
Which do you choose to be? That’s an easy question to answer.
The terrible thing about tares
It is generally believed that the tares in the parable are bearded darnel weeds. As defined by Easton’s Bible Dictionary:
tare: the bearded darnel, mentioned only in Matthew 13:25-30 . It is the Lolium temulentum, a species of rye-grass, the seeds of which are a strong soporific [sleep-inducing] poison. It bears the closest resemblance to wheat till the ear appears, and only then the difference is discovered. It grows plentifully in Syria and Palestine.
Until they are mature, darnel weeds are almost indistinguishable from wheat till the ears appear, so they can grow alongside them unnoticed. But to try and pull the weeds would also uproot neighboring wheat stalks.
Tares, believers in appearance only, are all around us. They are often good people, may have plenty of head knowledge of God’s Word, and even go through the motions a believer would. But, upon closer inspection, you can discern whether they bear fruit to God’s glory, or if they are merely “Christians” with quotation marks around them. Look for the fruit. Time and tribulation will reveal fruit…or its absence.
Tares are insidious because they not only give true believers a bad rap to the world, but can also hurt true believers with unbiblical thinking and influence. Beware, and always turn to God’s Word for clarification.
As true believers, it is not our job to uproot the tares, but to ensure our growth as wheat. We must walk the walk and always keep our eyes on God.
Be wheat
Every morning is a new opportunity given us to make a difference in this world—His field—in His name. Every moment, hour, day, week, month, season, year, and decade is a chance to show the world we are His love on earth. True believers are wheat. We live passionately and authentically, and it pains us when we are not doing more in God’s name, does it not?
Be wheat, my friend.
Today’s soundtrack
“Live Like That” by Sidewalk Prophets is what I strive to do each day. Enjoy.
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